Stanford University Accepts Muslim Teen who Wrote #BlackLivesMatter 100 Times in his Application

A Bangladeshi-American teenage activist Ziad Ahmed, 18 who wrote #BlackLivesMatter in his application has been accepted into Stanford University.

A question in the application form read: “What matters to you, and why?”. Ziad went on to write #BlackLivesMatter 100 times in the space provided.

Last Friday, Ziad received his acceptance letter from Stanford.

“I was actually stunned when I opened the update and saw that I was admitted. “I didn’t think I would get admitted to Stanford at all, but it’s quite refreshing to see that they view my unapologetic activism as an asset rather than a liability,” Ahmed said in an email to MIC.

“My unapologetic progressivism is a central part of my identity, and I wanted that to be represented adequately in my application. To me, to be Muslim is to be a BLM ally, and I honestly can’t imagine it being any other way for me. Furthermore, it’s critical to realize that one-fourth to one-third of the Muslim community in America are black … and to separate justice for Muslims from justices for the black community is to erase the realities of the plurality of our community,” Ahmed added.

The acceptance letter from Stanford read: “Everyone who received your application was inspired by your passion, determination, accomplishments, and heart. You are, quite simply, a fantastic match with Stanford. You will bring something original and extraordinary to our campus – a place where you can learn, grow, and thrive.”

Ziad also sent a follow up tweet to clarify that his acceptance was not based on that question alone and understandably so as the kid boasts of an impressive resume.

Ziad is the founder of Redefy, a social justice organisation for teenagers.

In 2015, he gave a TEDx Talk about youth activism. He recently spoke on “Let’s Ask Some Hard Questions” at TEDxAAS event. He had also worked for the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley, and was the White House Iftar dinner, a religious observance of Ramadan.

He is also a contributor for Huffington Post.

Ziad and Hillary Clinton. Photo Credit: Instagram – @zidolikespies

Apart from Stanford, Ziad has also been accepted to two Ivy league schools Yale and Princeton.

Nothing impressive here. And it’s unfair to those who actually put a lot of effort in writing their essays. I’m guessing he had high SAT scores and GPA.
Arabs, Muslims started the slave trade in Africa. And they are yet to take responsibility of their role in the African slavery and terrorism they cause around the world in the name of Islamic conquests. I’m very careful when a muslim pretends to stand for equality when their religion is in support of division which we see everyday.
This kid wrote blacklivesmatter to bring attention to himself and get on the trending topic.

Did you even read the article? It states clearly that this was not the only question asked. It also states an impressive resume. He worked with Hillary Clinton. He spoke at TedX. And by the way, there are black Muslims as well. Some Muslims are actually against division.

@ ify
It’s true this kid has an impressive resume even without the blacklives matter answer. If some Muslims don’t support division, how come those ones don’t speak against the oppression of women, children in their own religion. Charity begins at home, ya feel me.
@ Damilola 👏👏👏
Lol@ the sarcasm about Malcolm X and Buddhism.

It would’ve been interesting if he been a Muslim stood up for something different like feminism knowing that it maybe impossible to support that with a Quranic verse. That would ve been very very interesting. BLM is an easy trend
Jihadists are forever trying to make america unsafe yet this muslim boy’s life will be totally different perhaps opposite what he’s got in america now if he was in Bangladesh. That country (USA), no matter what is a land of opportunities